Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their assessment of the operation of the Renewable Heat Incentive Scheme in Great Britain.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) in Great Britain is administered by Ofgem. They are responsible for the day-to-day running of the scheme.On the 14th December we published the government response and accompanying impact assessment to the consultation on reforming the RHI. The reforms will ensure that the scheme is affordable and incorporates robust scheme design. The changes will focus on long-term decarbonisation, offering better value for money to the tax payer and protecting consumers.

Employment Tribunals Service

Lord Beecham: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Neville-Rolfe on 24 October (HL2341), how many penalties have been issued in respect of the failure of employers to pay employment tribunal awards since the new penalty system was introduced in 2016; and with what results.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: Since April 2016, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy has issued 60 penalty notices as a result of 164 warning notices to employers for failure to comply with orders of employment tribunals to pay compensation to applicants. As a result of the Employment Tribunal Penalty regime the department has secured over £83,000 in previously unpaid awards for applicants.

Consumer Protection Measures in the Ticket Resale Market Review

Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will publish the written submissions received in response to the Waterson review into the consumer protection measures concerning online secondary ticketing facilities which was published on 26 May.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: This will be considered as part of the government’s response to Professor Waterson’s review.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Burma: Rohingya

Baroness Cox: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the extent to which the reported human rights violations faced by the Rohingya people in Burma amount to crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: We are deeply concerned by reports of human rights violations in Rakhine State, though the lack of access makes facts hard to verify. When I visited Burma from 9-12 November, I urged Burmese Government Ministers to set up a full and independent investigation into all reports of human rights violations. We note the establishment of the Rakhine Investigation Commission, which is due to report back by 31 January 2017. I discussed its work with Kofi Annan on 20 December and we will continue to monitor its progress closely. Any judgment on whether crimes such as war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide have been committed is a matter for competent national or international courts.

Burma: Sexual Offences

Baroness Cox: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what action they are taking in response to reports of the use of rape and sexual violence in conflicts in Burma, particularly in (1) Kachin, (2), northern Shan, and (3) Rakhine, States.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: I raised issues of conflict-related sexual violence with the Government of Burma at a senior level when I visited from 9-12 November in my capacity as the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict. I pressed the Minister of Defence on the importance of the army handling allegations of sexual violence against women in a thorough and transparent manner. I pushed for early adoption of a law on preventing violence against women that is compliant with the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women. I also hosted a workshop dedicated to tackling the stigma associated with survivors of conflict, and met survivors of sexual violence as part of our efforts to formulate policy.

Religious Freedom: Pakistan

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they have held with the Ahmadi Muslim community in the UK concerning the welfare of their co-religionists in Pakistan.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: ​We regularly meet representatives of the UK Ahmadiyya Muslim community to discuss the human rights of Ahmadiyya in Pakistan.The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, my Hon. Friend the Member for Reading West (Alok Sharma) met members of the community at the Annual General Meeting of the All Party Parliamentary Group for the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community UK on 23 November. I met community leaders in May. Earlier this week, Foreign and Commonwealth Office officials met members of the community to discuss the raid on the Ahmadiyya offices in Rabwah on 5 December and the attack on the mosque in Chakwal on 12 December. We regularly raise our concerns about the protection of minority communities, including religious minorities, with the Pakistani Government at a senior level.

Department of Health

Air Pollution

Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many (1) deaths, and (2) emergency hospitalisations, were caused due to excess PM2.5 in the air pollution episode of March to April 2014; and whether they will publish the research.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: There was an estimate of 600 deaths across the United Kingdom over the 10 days of High and Very High air pollution compared to around 300 associated with typical particulate (PM2.5) air pollution levels. The mortality estimates are calculated based on published epidemiological exposure response coefficients. It is not possible to determine which individuals were impacted by this episode specifically, nor the length of time that deaths were brought forward by.

Hepatitis

Baroness Randerson: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many people in England have purchased hepatitis C treatments online and are currently being monitored by the NHS.

Lord O'Shaughnessy: Information on treatments prescribed and purchased privately online is not collected.